Wednesday, April 29, 2009

My daughter's hair gets tangley (is that a word?) and she really dislikes when I try to comb them out. So I bought a bottle of detangler at Dollar General for a buck. I ran out a few months later. Ahhhh!!!! It was working so well and a dollar is not much. But when you have a stockpile of conditioner, something must be done. It was done. I added a few drops maybe two teaspoons of conditoner to my empty bottle and about 1-1/2 to 2 cups of warm water. Shake vigoriously so it combines and use as normal! Hooray and everyone is happy!!

Friday, April 24, 2009

This has been become her job. The cows get baled dry hay twice a day. It has been her job to feed the first feeding of it. Kurt usually carries the bales and puts them where they need to go. A bale will feed 10 cows and she knows right where to stop. Of course I helped her feed one day and she told me which cows needed the hay and where to start feeding. Being the rookie that I am, I started at the opposite end and she yelled at me. I did it on purpose, but I shouldn't complain she does her job quite well.

She's so serious! Can't wait til she can reach the pipeline to milk the cows! She only has 16 inches to go and she and I will be the same height.

Combine above ingredients together. Bake in a pyrex 9x13 or dutch oven at 350 degrees until the potatoes and carrots are cooked. I usually plan for atleast 1-1/2 hours. Cover with foil if only using 1 can of soup-this too is optional. You could add onion but I prefer to use onion powder. This recipe is very adaptable. You can add or use less of one ingredient or double very easily.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

I used to get frustrated when I would buy containers of cottage cheese, sour cream, yogurt, etc because the containers are a five. In my area only containers marked with a one or a two are recyclable. When I had a family and began buying larger packages of ground beef/chuck, I needed something I could put the extra meat in to freeze. I had piles in the cupboard of said containers. Lightbulb! Now I had a place to store my ground beef/chuck that I bought when it was at a rock-bottom price. I usually use the 16 ounce size to store the meat. After I put the cover on, I "burp" it to get most of the air out. Store in the freezer for three to six months.

Monday, April 20, 2009

My blog buddy Miriam, I think of her as my blog buddy is having a Giveaway! She is giving away a copy of the book More Hours in My Day by Emilie Barnes. You should go read Miriams Journey to Homemaking because she fills you in how the book helped and and now it can help all of us. Before she even mentioned the giveaway, I went to my library's website and reserved a copy. Go check it out!

Last week I did not have a plan. We were busy but I like having a plan. This week the plan is kind of boring but atleast I have a plan. I told Kurt we haven't had Chinese since the first weekend of March. That was like six or seven weeks ago! The horror! Maclayne has her seven-year-old checkup Thursday afternoon so I figure we are in town and if we(ME) are still hungry for it we (ME) deserve a reward.

Friday, April 17, 2009

I have a lot of extra strawberries and soft butter waiting to be used in the fridge and on the counter. Fruit pizza will utilize both in a lovely, delicious way. I remember when I was in 4-H my mom and I took this to a Food Review. It was my first year and they evaluated your recipe and table setting (I think). That was almost 20 years ago...I'm going to be soo old. I'm teasing but saying something was almost 20 years ago sounds long ago when you are 28. Go check out other recipes at the Recipe Swap.

Whip cream and mix with cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Spread over cooled crust. Arrange fresh or well-drained fruit over filling. I'm going to use fresh strawberries and mandarin oranges. Some people make a glaze to put over the top. I do not. Enjoy!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

The big elephant in the room is our loan and the uncertainty of it. We met with two loan officers from two different lenders. The one was a no which we knew and it would not have helped us out other than band-aid the current situation. So we are waiting to hear back hopefully by tomorrow if it's a go with the other lender. In short, we would have cash flow which equals good thing.

Last week, our friends ran an ad for milking help. It was for the morning milking and within 20 minutes of reading it Kurt decided he should go work there. I first thought I should go but it would conflict with getting Mac on the bus. So I sent them a text...how professional right? They stopped over later that afternoon to fill Kurt in on what it all involves. I knew it was every other weekend, but I didn't know you had to do both milkings. That stretches Kurt really thin which stresses me out slightly because there is more burden on me to pick up the slack. Which I am because I do the morning milking and chores by myself with the exception of cleaning the barn. Kurt does that when he gets home.

Yep, I said it. Kurt has a job. As if milking three times a day was not enough, and planting season is here which turns into making hay/haylage time. And these babies need to be filled up with chopped hay which turns into haylage for the cows and heifers. I will probably start stressing out in my posts if I have time to turn my computer on. See I already am. : ) Happy, positive thoughts, and naps! : ) In conclusion I hope this extra cash is worth the burden of stress it is going to provide.

Dry weather has kicked spring planting into gear. Yesterday Kurt asked me if I wanted to disc the field where the oats are to be planted on Friday. Last year I did not drive the tractor at all. The year before I learned how to disc and drag fields. I really liked discing but yesterday I was beat. Kurt's dad ran the springtooth over the field this afternoon and tonight. That smooths the field. Kurt will be planting the oats tomorrow. I had to go pickup the seed oats today and they are on the back of the truck. Perfect place for them because someone will drive the truck out to the field so the planter/grain drill can be refilled. I will try and capture this event digitally.

The view from where I was sitting yesterday afternoon. Notice the field to the right is darker. That pass is disced and I'm discing along side of it. When I get to the end of the field I turn to the right and disc alongside the farthest pass to the right. When the middle is all disced, I make another pass further down and do the same thing. Pass is not the term but I'm not sure how to spell what Kurt says...he says lan (d)??

When it's almost 60 degrees, I could not pass this up either. Today was 60 or so too. I feel like I should be cleaning something out. So I started cleaning up the garage. I did not get far because Kurt was around and he doesn't like it when I get into a "let's throw your stuff out" stage. It was more like this is garbage and it needs to leave. Skids of seed corn, soybeans, and alfalfa seed are taking up space in the garage as well. I do need to get it picked up because I am planning on having a rummage sale in May. Time flies.

Last week we had a bull calf born and last night we had another bull calf born. Both calvings were heifers so this was their first time having a calf which now makes them cows. They are also two-years-old which is a typical age they will have their first calf by. Maclayne thought she could feed the oldest(also the only at the time this picture was taken) bull calf. Looks like she has it under control because she moonlights as a professional calf feeder.

Or not. The little guy wanted more and he went after her/the bottle. Poor thing he didn't know it was empty, poor Maclayne she did not like that. I thought it was funny since she said she could do it. Because of that, I was allowed to laugh at her misfortune. Oh, how I have been in her position many times before.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Before Kurt and I got married, I wanted to have certain rooms in the house painted because I found them unappealing to put it nicely. The mess below is what was on the walls in the kitchen. It is not wallpaper but a panelling of some sort. Kurt's parents had not lived here in 7 years yet they came out to help him during the day. Which meant they were there for 12 hours of the day and did everything there (laundry, ate three meals, etc). Don't ask me why they did this when they were/are paying rent for a duplex in town. When they "moved out" they did not take all of their stuff with so I had to get them to get it out of there before I could paint. It was a rather stressful and irritating process that could have went much smoother. Lesson 1. When moving out. Do just that. Take belongings and get out. Lesson 2. Not everything needs to be kept forever. Either way it had to go. Not the brown-eyed monster trying to sneek in the picture.

Here is the color I painted over the nightmare with. My mother-in-law hates it and I love it.

Here is the before. Kind of a blurry picture, but notice how cluttered it looks. The old fridge is now in the garage. The kitchen is a pretty small room considering how much my mother-in-law likes to bake. They remodeled it in 1976 and I would have done something different with the kitchen. The doorway on the left goes out to the entry way. The door on the other side of the fridge is the bathroom. It is not functionally correct but I'll live with it.

Here is the after. Notice the table is turned the other way. It really opened it up and helps it flow a little better.

I wanted to show you an upclose look at my red curtain. It has tiny blue flowers on it so it ties in with the wall color. I really liked this fabric so my mom made curtains for the living room out of that material. I will show you the living room next.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Nobody asked me but we seem to watch a lot of TV. It is what we do during our down time or it is on for background noise. We have satellite TV so if you have DishNetwork I like to listen to channel 6061 or maybe its 6160. It's 80s and 90s country music. 80s country is my favorite. Some of my favorite shows are.

Big Bang Theory on CBS Kurt doesn't get it but I think it is sooo funny. Love Sheldon's antics.Deadliest Catch on Discovery This show is addicting. I am living vicariously through this show.Days of Our Lives on NBC/Soapnet I have Kurt slightly addicted to this show.Biggest Loser on NBC Kristin on the show lives 30 minutes away from me and her mom is closer yet...most people I know around her know them in some way if they have family from the town her mom lives in which is 12 miles from here. I nevered watched this show until this season. My daughter loves watching it too.American Idol Hello Danny Gokey! I voted for him and I voted for Carrie Underwood...look what happened.

Shows that I like to watch in reruns-Golden Girls-reminds me of Saturday nights when I was a kidRebaKing of QueensSeinfeldDoes anyone else think I'm dull, lead a boring life?Little House on the Prairie-when I feel I need a doseI think I should stop now because people may find this rather boring (and lame).Did anyone watch Doctor Quinn Medicine Woman (and why is this not on reran?)??

Please comeback I promise I'll have something more interesting...like a picture of my kitchen with it's new paint job : )

This week I'll be going to the grocery store on Tuesday to buy the essentials (milk, eggs, flour, etc). I am using some boxed noodle mixes from my pantry this week. I seem to forget I have them and haven't made anything that would go with them. I have leftover chicken breast that will workout well or I could pair it with the umpteen boxes of stuffing I have as well. Sometimes I get carried away with the item being such a good deal I go overboard. I went through a pile of cake mixes that I had bought so that felt good to actually run out of them for some odd reason. Too bad I picked up two more the week before : ) Oops. Next week I should have leftovers from Easter. It looks like we are going to stay home because we have two heifers due. One on the 8th and the other on the 12th. I will provide another birth announcement. I hope than have them early in the week or after Tuesday the 14th. I have to milk by myself on Tuesday the 14th at night. Kurt has a Holstein meeting so I'm being a baby. Anyway. I am not sure what order we will be eating the food in but this is the list.

Leftover chicken in broccoli linguine noodles (carryover from last week)

I am also doing an inventory of what is in my chest freezers. I have two. My smaller one that Kurt got me for my birthday (one of the best birthday presents of all-time) holds mostly meat and the other larger (like 13 or 14 cu feet) holds the rest. I do not want to forget anything that could be residing in there. I have some ears of sweet corn that I need to make. If you are curious what is happening in Wisconsin at Lime-Acres check it out.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Just wanted to let anyone know I'm alive. We received really crappy news from our loan officer on April 1st of all days. So we are working out a solution. Who knew if you paid your bills you still could get thrown under the bus by your loan officer/bank. Grrr. I was/am down right mad. The jist is our loan was not renewed meaning we owe a large sum of money by July. This makes me so mad. Why did they not make it a seven-year, five-year whatever loan and make it so it would be paid off? It keeps getting renewed meaning we just keep paying on it and I guess they have the option not to renew it. We are now paying for banks making bad loans. We are not a bad loan. We pay. Its automatically taken out. So I will stop complaining. We'll make it through this but it is like a nightmare. ***I be good now and stop whining, promise***

We finished our Adventures in Dairyland class today. It was a class of 22 and they were so nice and fun to work with. I think this is our last year teaching though. I think I would definetly teach in three years when Mac is in fourth grade.

Tomorrow five of Maclayne's friends are coming over for a little party. After class today, I made Kurt come with me to Dollar General and I got some stuff for a little gift bag. I bought regular paper lunch bags that Mac can put each one's name on and decorate it or whatever. Then I found the flarp. It is noisy putty and costs a dollar each. Kids love it. Moms love it. Maybe not all moms but it's fun and I'm pretty sure there is a recipe out there to make it at home. I found a fun little activity book with stickers and it is Strawberry Shortcake themed. Then some colorful, yet cheap pens. Plus I'm going to throw in a Yo-go. That's a snack from Kelloggs that Mac likes. She also likes raisins but if I was kid coming to her party I don't think I'd ever come back here if you gave me raisins. I'm a cool mom. Haha. Young, but definetly not cool. I'm going to make some cupcakes (my second batch in two days) and let them frost and decorate their own. I'm going to make a frozen pizza or two and they can play and be happy. I'm not sure if it will be nice enough to play outside. Besides Maclayne does not have a swing set, yet. AHEM, someone(s) are going to be getting her one AHEM : ) Could you buy her some sand too? Her sandbox is wee bit empty. How about a picnic table? Maclayne would love a grown-up size picnic table. I positive she said that. Didn't you hear her say that? : ) It should be fun.

Tonight, I am watching my little buddies Madison and Mathew. Kurt is going to go visit his cousin and friend who milks about 120 cows about 15 minutes away. He was over at his parents last night chatting while they milked. So I am going to send along some sandwiches, brownies, pop, and chips (if we have some). Plus a grocery bag of food which will probably be cereal, hamburger helper and hopefully something good. I would like to have a little lasagna made up for him or chili but that will have to be next time.

So Kurt and I are hunting for loan officers/lending institutions and praying a lot. The warmer it gets the busier we get. I should see if I can catch a nap before we milk. Kurt is still on the couch so maybe I have a chance. I've been having problems getting pics loaded so hopefully I'll have something happier to talk about later. : )

I make this fruit salad for just about anything and it usually goes over really well. You can easily double the recipe depending on your group size. I am going to add this recipe to a list of recipes for our church cookbook. Hope you like it and go check out more at the Recipe Swap!

Reserve fruit juice, enough to make 2 cups. I used pineapple and cherry. Combine pudding mix and juice in saucepan. Over medium heat, wisk together and cook until bubbly and mix is dissolved. Cool. Pour over drained fruit chunks in a bowl and cover and refrigerate.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Maclayne! She may have had a birthday last Saturday but better late than never right? I have been really lucky with my strong-willed little lady who is now an ambitious seven-year-old. She has been healthy except for a broken arm two years ago *knock on wood* we don't need that to happen again.

She is also a very lucky, little girl because she is much loved and has many special people in her life. Hopefully some day she will realize how lucky she is. For now, I'm okay with her being a carefree kid.

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About Me

Welcome to our farm, Lime-Acres Registered Holsteins located in the heart of America's Dairyland. I love cows, my husband, my daughter, reading, relaxing, and the Lord! I work seasonally in the grain department of our local coop and help my husband milk our cows three times a day. Cooking, baking, photography, showing our dairy cattle, rummaging, 4-H, and getting away from the farm are other things I enjoy doing. Feel free to ask any questions and I'll do my best to answer.